Top 10 Best Platforms to invest in Direct Mutual Funds Online

There are two ways of investing in mutual funds, one through mediators/banks and other through investing in direct plans which is done directly through AMC websites. One of the best way to get higher returns from mutual funds is to invest through Direct Plans of Mutual Funds. However, investing in direct plans of mutual funds would be little tedious process till few years back as one has to go through the AMC website and do KYC process etc., Now there are several best platforms where one can invest in direct plans of mutual funds without even going to AMC websites. In this article, we would detail about Top 10 Best Platforms on one can invest in direct plans of mutual funds.

In mutual fund scheme, direct plan refers to those in which Asset Management Company (AMC) or mutual fund houses do not charge any fees, distribution expenses or transaction charges. The NAV of such funds are higher than normal mutual funds. The scheme would denote “direct” in its description at the end of such direct plans. e.g. “Aditya Birla Sunlife Frontline Equity Fund – Direct Plan”. It is good for those investors who can manage the paper formalities on their own and want to increase their returns by reducing the expenses ratio. There would be separate NAV for direct plans.

Difference between Direct Plans Vs Regular Plans in Mutual Funds

There are certain differences in direct plans against the regular plans of mutual funds.

Fund Returns: Direct plans in mutual funds do not charge any transaction or brokerage fees. So, the returns are higher as compared to regular plans. The returns would be higher around 0.5% to 1.5% per annum depending upon the expense ratio.

Documentation: Investing in mutual funds involve a lot of documentation like submission of application, tracking, portfolio consolidation, nominee inclusion, KYC compliance etc. in regular plans, all these things are taken care by the broker or intermediary but in case of direct plans, all the formalities have to be complied by the investor only. This may create a bit of work.

Mutual Fund Recommendations: In direct plans, the investors need to analyze the funds on their own and select top performing funds. This requires a lot of research on the part of investors while in regular plans, all these things are managed by the agents of AMC.

Trace records: In direct plans, it is difficult to trace the investment records if forgotten to be claimed. The records are not kept centralized and it is difficult to remember all the records if invested in different funds whereas the records can be kept at one place if invested through broker.

Top 10 Best Platforms to invest in Direct Mutual Funds Online

There are a few platforms available in India that facilitates the investors to invest directly i.e. in mutual fund direct plans. All direct plan investment platforms have different business models. Some charge a flat rate, while some charge on per transaction basis. Here are the best platforms to invest in direct plans of mutual funds.

All the asset management companies have their portals. Go to the online portal whose mutual fund you want to invest. Create a portfolio there. Fill all the details in application form and select the option of ‘Direct’ in mode of investment. It does not charge any fees. You need to log in to each AMC for investing in mutual fund schemes pertaining to them.

2) Investing through MF Utility – Mutual Funds Direct plans

In India, MF Utility is a shared infrastructure of all AMCs to provide online investment facility. MFU is funded by the mutual fund houses only. The website for this is www.mfuindia.com. One can register for common account number (CAN) here. This is a unique number to trace all the investments made in different AMC through MF Utility platform. These too do not charge any fees.

3) Karvy Platform – Direct plan of mutual funds

It acts as online middlemen between you and mutual fund companies for keeping records and processing of different procedures. They offer services for few selected mutual fund companies only. The portfolio built through Karvy can be viewed at a single place.

4) MyCams – Invest in direct plans of mutual funds

Cams provides mutual fund investments through their platform where you can invest in direct mutual funds too. However CAMS provides only services for mutual funds under 15 AMCs only. The facility is free and you can get consolidated statement online across the mutual fund schemes you may invest in these 15 fund houses.

5) Moneyfront Platform – Investing in mutualfund direct plans

It is another online portal that offers many services to the investors along with online SIP investment. It facilitates to analyze the savings for direct plans vs. regular plans.

6) Investing through Zerodha Coin

It is a platform that lets you buy mutual funds online at very low cost. One can invest Rs 25,000 for no cost and thereafter it offers the rate of as low as Rs 50 per month.

7) Bharosa Advisor – Investing in direct plan of mutual funds

Bharosa Advisor is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor. It offers un-biased and quality advice that helps investors to create more wealth without paying commission of any kind.

8) Clear funds – Mutual Fund direct plans

Clear funds enables investors to invest in direct mutual funds with precise analysis made through statistical algorithm. They have partnered with leading analytical companies to provide in depth analysis on every mutual fund. A flat rate of Rs 200 is charged for every mutual fund scheme bought.

9) Expowealth – Direct Plans of Mutual Funds

Expo wealth offers three categories for online investments. First is free and the basic plan which has few direct schemes. Second is Rs 149 per transaction I which one can buy from over 600 direct mutual schemes. Third is premium plan in which it charges Rs 149 per month with unlimited lump sum and SIP transactions.

It is registered with SEBI as an investment advisor. It offers a great selection of fund houses to select from. It do not charge any fees.

Bonus Tip – Invezta Platform – Mutual Funds Direct plans

It is a big online platform that helps investors to invest in direct schemes of all AMCs with sophisticated advice. A minimal fee of Rs 79 p.m. or Rs. 109 p.m. charged for the services provided.

Conclusion: It is good to see that awareness about direct plans is increasing. Many websites and portals are encouraging investors about investing directly in mutual funds. Investing in direct and regular mutual fund schemes has its own pros and cons. So, the investor needs to be cautious and take decisions as per their own needs. Direct plan portals may have poor marketing skills as compared to regular plan because they are budget constraints.

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47 comments

Guys, my strong recommendation is to go for Kuvera.in, they have app also. It’s completely free of cost. The best thing is their customer relation. My experience with Kuvera has been far beyond my expectation. Earlier I had my mandate and SIP set up through another well-known online portal which also claimed to be free of cost but charging indirectly at backend. I had account with this well-known fund management portal and struggled when it came to closing my SIP and mandate with them as it was wrongly created. Even after my repeated request, this well-known fund management portal was not ready to close SIP or mandate. I got to know about Kuvera from one of my friend and got registered with them. I shared my problems of other portal with Kuvera team and they guided me on actions to get it resolved. I got it resolved to my satisfaction. I haven’t come across any other service provider who is ready to help you for your troubles with other service provider. Hats off to these guys from Kuvera. I do not want to malign other portal but I highly recommend Kuvera.

If any of these service provider or platform closes operations for any reason then what will happen to our record or data ? Can any one give information about it with full knowledge. also what is about security of our data?

Hi Parasmal, These are intermediaries only. You are the end customer to the Mutual fund Houses. Hence your records would be with mutual fund houses. Since your investment data with mutual fund house, it can be considered with relative safe.

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Suresh KP i.e. me, have written 1800+ articles on this Blog. I love doing analysis on various Best Investment Plans like mutual funds, Stocks, IPO’s, NCD Bonds, Insurance products. If you like our blog, you can share some of the good articles on your Facebook or Twitter. This would be the BIGGEST gift which you would be giving to us.